1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to handheld devices and more particularly to modes of a handheld device.
2. Description of Related Art
Integration of conventionally separate handheld devices into a single handheld device is current trend in the art. For instance, cellular telephones have been integrated with personal digital assistants (PDA), digital cameras, and walkie-talkie functionality. More recently, cellular telephones have been integrated with digital audio players (e.g., MP3 and/or WMA players). Such integration provides the user of a handheld device the convenience of carrying one device with the functionality of two or more devices.
While an integrated handheld device provides multiple functionalities, there are some instances and/or locations, where the user cannot or should not use one or more of the functionalities. For instance, current Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations prohibit the use of cellular telephones on airplanes in transit, but allow the use of other handheld devices (e.g., PDA, digital audio player). In such instances, to comply with FAA regulations, a cellular telephone with additional integrated functions (e.g., PDA, digital audio player) must be powered down entirely while the airplane is in transit. Thus, the user is not able to use the approved functionality of the handheld device.
An ongoing design challenge with handheld devices is to reduce power consumption thereby increasing battery life (i.e., the duration for which a handheld device can operate properly without recharging or replacing its battery source). When the handheld device includes integration of multiple functionalities, reduction of power consumption is an even greater challenge.
Therefore, a need exists for a handheld device that provides greater flexibility of use and/or controlled power consumption.